Thursday, June 10, 2010

And so 'The Great Homemade Play-dough Experiment' begins...

Once again, my son's once-pristine Play-Doh, in a wide array of colors, has become a crumbly, dried-out pile. Granted, it lasted a while before it got to this stage and you can't really blame the boy. It's hard to not get the colors mixed up from time to time, especially when you're trying to make an awesome Play-Doh hamburger or a birthday cake complete with candles. And then there's the distraction factor. One minute, my little guy will be happily playing with his Play-Doh, only to be distracted by someone at the door, a sudden need for the potty, or the impulse to go outside. Inevitably, the Play-Doh is left on the table, subject to its archenemy: air. Yes, Play-Doh is short-lived at the hands of a three-year-old.

This time, though, instead of plopping down another five or so bucks, I thought I would make a batch of homemade play-dough, just like my mom used to when I was a kid. I called my mom for the recipe, but she wasn't home, so I turned to the Internet for a recipe. Turns out, everyone's recipe is supposedly the best recipe ever, dough that stays soft for months and months and months. Some use food coloring, others use Kool-Aid. Some have cream of tartar in the dough, others say it's not necessary. Is it possible that there's a recipe even better than the one from my mom's old ward cookbook?

Then I had an idea -- why not try the various recipes, test them out, and report my findings here? Now that's a not-so-scientific experiment this English major can handle! I realize that doing this will probably cost about as much as it would to just go buy some new cans of Play-Doh at the store, but once I've found the best recipe out there, it'll save me money in the the long run, right? Sure, I'll miss that Play-Doh smell (does anyone else like how a new can of that stuff smells?), but I'm ready for the task ahead.